Business cards are in!

 So the new business cards are in! Figured I would post these so you know how to get in touch with me!

If you would like to get tattooed shoot me an email anytime! Or feel free to call the studio.

MAHALO!

Summer of 2012 begins!

 Again, a very delayed post from me. Work has been picking up even more and I'm getting to do some really fun and challenging tattoos. This grip of photos (well, most of them anyway) really helped me analyze how I'm working and what kinds of steps I can take to get better.

I've been bouncing back and forth between the NJ shop and No ka Oi lately.... which is great considering I'm there often enough to start building a clientelle. Its really nice to have people that come back to you, and refer you to their friends/family. That's what we hope for when we do this.

On that note this first one was a walkin at No Ka Oi... some letters on his ribs. Getting more and more comfortable tattooing this area sometimes... however it changes with every person. This one went well, he sat good and we had some fun with a drop shadow and color.

 I have to say this is one of the most fun walkins I've had in a while. He had this record album with him and this was the artwork for it. So geometric and perfect, almost like stained glass. The original image didn't have black outlines but for longevity sake we added the black outlines. This was a challenging and fun tattoo, great practice for me technically. Solid colors, perfectly straight lines. He came in this week and showed it to me, he now wants to add another part to this design, some sort of top window to cap off his arm... more to come on this one!

 This one came in about two weeks ago, Bill had tattooed his shoulder a while back and now he wanted to add this italian horn chain around his calf. We came up with this design and added a little color.

 This was another walkin at No Ka Oi. This is a pretty popular design however it was my first time doing it. So fun! I think I'm going to make a flash sheet with these on it... the ladies seem to love the bird and wishie silhouettes... ALOT!

The one underneath is a coverup I have going on in progress. Not only is this one a fun one, it's giving me more experience in coverups and having fun with textures. This is what we have so far.

 This was another walkin at No Ka Oi.... he already had the half sleeve done somewhere else.. it was a really nicely done tattoo too, I should have gotten a photo of the whole thing but considering I just added this little bit I figured it wasnt worth it. Cherry blossoms never get old!

 This one was an appointment that spanned over the course of a few months, we met in person at Portside one day, then after many emails and another consultation later we ended up with this design... it's a gesture sketch based off a painting that she brought in. This was her first tattoos so I was happy that she took her time with this. She sat very well for this and I hope to see it healed. Definitely into this abstract figure.

 This is a new addition to the flowers I posted the last time. She sits like a champ! She came in again to finish the color on the flowers... we have one more session left to add some greywash background to camouflage the redness of the birthmark. Very excited about this one. the last bit of flowers I did healed overall ok with a few spots that need a touchup and I want to put a bit more shading in some areas to make the flowers popl a bit more. I will post when I see her again.

 Another view

 This one was an appointment for someone who I met while working over at No Ka Oi. technically and design wise this was a nightmare! A crapload of letters in a perfect circle! Thank the Lord for Photoshop! She brought me everything I would need which was super helpful, and we ended up with this design, which was a deviation from her original idea, which was ok. It was a good location for this tattoo and she left happy. Definitely a challenge....

 This one was done last week. This client found me via the internets and came in for a consultation. He had the entire design worked out for me so all I had to do was redraw it. It's always a challenge to do something like this in my eyes. Overall I am happy with this tattoo and hope it heals up clean. We had good conversation and he sat so well!

 Correction! This walkin was equally as fun! He came in to the NJ shop one day last week and since I didn't have time to do it when he walked in, we booked an appointment for a day or two later. This was an awesome logo from a family company that he's a part of. The men in the photo are his father, grandfather and great grandfather... and considering my caricature background I really enjoyed this! The original image was ALL blue with ALL red letters without an outline, so again for longevity sake we added the black outlines to keep the design crisp for longer. I'm very stoked on this design thanks Carmen! I'll be seeing him again this week for another consultation!

 A walkin at the NJ shop that turned into an appointment. This was his second tattoo and the biggest... sat for the entire thing! He brought the image to me and I just tweaked it to fit the areas that he wanted to cover. Once this heals up I plan on adding red on the outside of this sort of like a dropshadow only in red. The red was his idea and I think it would look pretty awesome with the bold black. Hope to see him back soon for more. Thanks to Levi for this fun one!

I finally finished the angel on Tim! Love this image and it covered up his name perfectly. The previous session healed perfectly and I was happy to give him this tattoo in memory of his wife who is no longer with us. We added a bit more to the cancer ribbon to make it stand out... it had healed up a bit light.

 Sherry came back! I did some paw prints on her wrist a while back, and after many emails since then I finally tattooed her again. Love cherry blossoms of course, and I enjoy cute little stuff like this. With some tension going on at the shop Sherry and her friend were rays of sunshine for me that day.... thanks to Sherry you rule!

 This was a walkin the other day here at No Ka Oi.. a mountain laurel. This was fun to do... LOVE flowers. I will probably shoot myself for making this statement but I can do flowers every day and wouldn't care at all!

 This came in yesterday.... she had this tiny tattoo done at Skin Deep a yr or so back and she just needed some color put back into it and a few lines fell out.... which can happen.

BEFORE

 AFTER

This was done yesterday at No Ka Oi. She came in as a referral from another client of mine and stoked to do another crab!!

That's it for right now, I will post more when I can. Working on self advertising more and getting my name out there.... I'd like to travel and get the hell out of philly for a minute!

ALOHA

Time for coverups

So the last week has been good. Started filling in this tattoo that walked in... she came in with just the outline and needed color. She also has this birthmark underneath that we're covering as well. More to come on this.

Done at the Portside shop, he found this lettering online so we went with it. He sat great for this tattoo, didn't even flinch.
















Did this heart at the NJ location this week. She came in with more family members to remember their father who has passed.

This was done this week in NJ as well. She wanted to remember her friend who passed away as well, but we put a spin on it and did cherry blossoms and birds with it. She sat good for it, we worked on her for a while too! Hope to see her back for more!

Had alot of fun with this one, I got to do a cherry blossom branch again and got more experience with the lower back area. It's not the easiest but practice makes perfect!

Did this one yesterday at the NJ location... she just walked in and wanted lettering to match the placement on her other foot. I liked this placement alot and she let me draw up the lettering how I like to.

This one above is a coverup in progress. I've recently done a hibiscus coverup on her arm, this entire piece connects. One more session then we're done!


Diamond done yesterday in NJ as well. This was his first one too! Had some fun playing around with the greys so I hope to see this back healed. Still need more work on my greywash but I'm getting there.....

More to come!

Hello Summer!

 Ok so as per usual I've waited long enough and now it's time to update this again. With summer around the corner the shops have been getting busy! Time to get myself out there and do as much as I can. Here's some stuff I've been working on.....

This was a walkin at No Ka Oi... lettering she brought in.

 This was someone who I tattooed at No Ka Oi a while back, he emailed me while I was working at Skin Deep to draw out some script for him. After numerous emails, we settled on this. Alot of fun to do!

 This was a friend of a client I tattooed a month or two beforehand. She walked in while I was working at the Portside shop and wanted some flowers added onto her exsisting tattoo. Definitely a challenge, we only reworked the roses but she was happy with what we came up with.

 After shot.

 Fun little walkin while I was working at No Ka Oi one day. After working on her for a while she tells me she collects seahorses, how cool is that??

 My friend Rachel was kind enough to let me tattoo her hand (being my first time).... I'll get a healed picture of this, but I was surprised that most of it stayed! Horray for teeth!

The tree above this was a challenge as well, still need to work on stretchy skin and sensitive areas.... Being someone who has tattoos over stretch marks myself I know how rough it can be to get this done. She was very happy with it and kudos to her for giving me more practice!

This plumeria and butterfly piece was done as a walkin while at the Portside shop. I did the outline of the flower on her two weeks prior so she came back to add onto it.

 Fun walkin while at No Ka Oi

 Another fun walkin at No Ka Oi. This girl brought in the image and had drawn it up herself in black and grey. We added color and I enjoyed this one. It's an interesting idea and gave me some practice in realistic-looking eyes.

 Fun walkin on this girl and her sister, they got matching ones.

 Added onto her back, she had the lettering already. She wanted this for her mother... really like this layout and she loved it!

 Forgive the crappy photo... his skin was really puffed up... I'd like to introduce you to my very first screamer.... and I mean SCREAMER. Thanks to my coworker that day for dealing with him yelling most of the time. He didn't move too much, just yelled. He did well and managed to get through it all. Nice dude despite the noise :)

 Fun walkin while in Nj. long live butterflies!

 Another fun one in NJ! God i love pin up girls! Especially naked ones!!!

 Cute walkin at No Ka Oi.

 Another walkin while at No Ka Oi. She didn't have enough $$ to do the entire thing, so I hope to see her back to fill this in... unfortunately alot of people start outlines with artists then either move away or don't want to go back for whatever reason and most likely someone else will finish it. I had a blast drawing this design and hope to be the one to color it in! I love gypsy heads!!!!

 This guy was a friend of a client that I tattooed a few months back... what a fun tattoo! Cute choo choo train with a giraffe driving it! So damn cute and he was a blast to chat with! Hope to see him back again sometime for more!

 Practice practice! I'm still not 100% in this area yet, but I will be! This was a fun challenge and taking my time is key. No rushing! She loved it and after numerous ideas we came up with this.

This was a walkin in Nj.... soooo much fun!!! She came in one day with her friend. We chatted about their designs and she came back the next day. Such cool people. This woman is a pastry chef and has a love for vanilla!!! She was passing through town and wanted to see me, really an honor when someone asks for you specifically. I'm stoked that the hard work is finally paying off and I hope to keep getting people coming my way in the future! Many thanks to this lovely lady and her friend for coming in!!!

This was done on my friend Jess recently. She finally came in to get it done after a while of sketching and resketching. Our mutual best friend Lauren drew up the initial design and I reworked it to be suitable for a tattoo. We were all happy with this and I am going to see her in for a touchup soon. I had a few light spots in the stars that I would like to clean up a bit more. Thanks to Jess for putting your faith in me!

 Small walkin while at NJ shop.... circles... horray!

This is done on one of my new fav clients! He's coming twice to get tattooed in two weeks, and has brought us many clients since then! He loves to get lettering and lets me design it how I like. Really get to have some fun with these!

Carrot!!! Cute walkin while working at No Ka Oi

 Another fun walkin while working at No Ka Oi. One of my coworkers Kris has drawn up this design and she loved it!

Another fun walkin while in NJ! She was super sweet and has even come in for another one since then! It's healing great and I hope to see her in for more! 

More lettering... She had this printed out from a computer and the font was pretty cool.... definitely a challenge doing stuff like this, but at the size we settled on it looked great.

This skull is done on my mentor's best client Tim. He's been getting tattooed by Bill since basically forever, and after all the years of bugging him to let me tattoo him during my apprenticeship, Tim finally let me work on him! While working with Bill I drew this on his knee and filled it in. He later came in to add more spidewebs and spiders down his calf. I was definitely shitting my pants a bit on this one... tattooing right next to tattoos from Bill that dated back to the year I was born! Thanks to Tim for having faith in me!

This is the cross I did on the vanilla bean's friend. Another really nice girl and this was her first tattoo!











You can't go wrong with pizza and root beer! This is done on my college friend who has started collecting fun little tattoos from me recently. Really fun design, there's even teeth in there!

 Finally got to finish this cameo I started on Heather a while back! She was a great sport and sat for hours on end at retarded hours of the morning to finish this!

 Close up shot

 Fun walkin while working at the Portside location. Definitely a difficult area to work, however I took my time and enjoyed how it came out.

 Fun coverup done over in NJ. She sat great for it and hope to see her back for more added onto this!

 Did these roses on a really nice guy who unfortunately lost his wife not too long ago. This was an homage to her. I hope to see him back for some healed photos of this eventually.

 Lower back name action in NJ, walkin

 Another walkin. This woman had the heart with a name in it, and had the name lasered off. I added "Dad" to it and refreshed the heart. She was excited about it and we had some good conversation about art and design and I think we may end up working together on an illustration project soon. God I love my job! So many awesome people to meet!

 This is Tim's leg again. We added the rest of the webs and spiders the other day.... I had fun with these little guys, drew them up and had fun with it!

 This woman was a walkin here in NJ, she had a few faded stars on her foot already, so they needed to get refreshed and added onto it. We made it colorful and also added the stardust greywash behind it all.

This was a blast! I did the kitty cat on Jess a few months ago, and she just came in the other night to add more cuteness onto her arm! The boxing girl was done by another local artist, but the hearts, cupcakes and birdie were added on that day. Thanks to Jess for letting me have fun with this!!!

I'll be reposting again very soon, have alot of fun drawings in the works!!!